


Allergies

by heavenlyrare



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allergies, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hidden Cat, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Rare Pairings, Shiro has allergies, Voltron Rare Pair Big Bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-26 16:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13239435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavenlyrare/pseuds/heavenlyrare
Summary: Sometimes the cuteness of a cat is just too hard to resist.—OR—Lance and Allura sneak in a cat, despite Shiro's allergies.





	Allergies

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fic for the Voltron Rare Pair Big Bang! I did Shallurance, an underrated OT3 that I hope to shower with a lot of fics this year~
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Shiro is allergic to cats. It’s a fact that was well known by both Lance and Allura since they’ve been together for more than a couple months at this point. It was one of the many things that they learned, and one could never forget since Shiro was constantly sneezing in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, their neighborhood happened to be full of the very things that Shiro was allergic to. So whenever he’d walk around their neighborhood, he’d tend to sneeze more than he’d like to. If he stood outside long enough, his eyes would begin to water in response. Shiro didn’t grow too fond of the outside and often stayed in, much to Lance’s and Allura’s displeasure.

Despite what they knew, they still thought it was a good idea to sneak a stray kitten into their shared home.

It was all Lance’s doing, really. He had been on his way home from a relaxing jog around the neighborhood. It was something he did when he wanted to expel whatever leftover energy he had from the day. Just as he was walking up to their house, he heard a soft meow from nearby. Freezing in his movements, Lance strained to listened to his surroundings, wanting to know if the noise was just his imagination or not. A few beats of silence passed and Lance was writing it off as his mind playing tricks on him. After all, he could feel the tiredness from his jog slowly seeping into him, urging him to get inside his home so he could fully relax. It’s when he took another step forward that he heard the gentle meow once again. Certain of it this time around, Lance froze in his steps once more to scan his area. A glimpse of a light orange along with white pulled Lance’s attention to the low bushes that they had planted in front of their home. Squatting down, Lance tilted his head to the side in order to get a clear look underneath the bushes.

And, sure enough, there was a cat laid underneath there.

“Aaww,” cooed Lance as he took in the stray’s features. It was an orange tabby of a breed that Lance couldn’t identify at the moment. Its green eyes and black pupils stared back at Lance unblinkingly. The only time it looked away was when it caught wind of another noise, but it was never too long before it was warily regarding the brunet once more. Reaching his hand out, Lance began to make soft clicking noises, never taking his eyes off of the beautiful creature in front of him. There was a moment when neither moved, and then the cat was cautiously crawling from its temporary sanctuary. Lance didn’t stop his clicking noises until the cat was pressing up against his legs, purring lowly.

“Hey there, cutie,” murmured Lance as he let his fingers run through the cat’s soft coat repeatedly, petting it gently. A smile graced his face as the cat arched its back into his touch, apparently enjoying the feeling of being petted. Lance didn’t know how long he sat there stroking the cat. A minute? A few minutes? Either way, it was high time that he actually went home now. With a low groan, he got to his feet, stretching his body this way and that way. Sounds of joints popping could be heard, much to the brunet’s displeasure. His body always got so stiff after jogging.

“Alright, it’s time for me to head home,” explained Lance to the cat that was still pressing up against his legs. Of course, the cat didn’t take that as a signal to back off. Shaking his head, Lance began to walk to his front door, and almost tripped in the process. He let out a surprised yelp as he flailed his arms for balance. For a moment, he wobbled and had already accepted he was going to fall over, but luck seemed to be on his side today. Steadying himself, he glanced down to the cause of his misstep in the first place. The cat had followed his footsteps and made it its business to keep Lance outside for as long as possible, weaving its way through his legs and blocking his path every now and then.

“You’re not going to let me go, are you?”

He got a loud mew in response.

“I guess I should just take you with me then, huh?”

Another loud mew.

That was enough for Lance to crouch down and scoop up the stray cat in his arms, cradling it against his chest. He finally made it to his front door, shifting the cat in his arms so that he could ring the doorbell with his free hand. There was a beat of silence before the burgundy colored door was sung open and he was met with the sight of a relieved Allura.

“Lance!” exclaimed Allura with a smile. “You had me worried, you know. You’re usually back earlier than this and—is that a cat?” Allura’s gaze flickered to the bundle of fluff and toe beans resting in Lance’s arms, giving it a once over before returning her eyes to her boyfriend. “Why do you have a cat?”

“It was hiding underneath our bushes so I decided to call it over, and when I tried to leave…. Well, it wouldn’t let me go. So I brought it with me,” explained Lance with a giddy grin, accompanied by a meow from said cat.

“You know that Shiro is allergic,” reasoned Allura as she stared at the cat once more. Despite the tug at her heartstrings and her silent cooing, she wasn’t going to let herself be swayed like Lance did. One of them needed to be the voice of reason when Shiro wasn’t around.

“I know, but _look at it, Allura,”_ whined Lance, bringing the orange tabby closer to Allura’s face. “How can you resist such a cute cat? Look at its pretty green eyes. And feel how soft its fur is.” Lance reached for Allura’s hand, guiding it through the cat’s coat. “It’s like a pillow, right? _And these_ _pink toe beans_.”

Gnawing a hole through her bottom lip, Allura had an internal battle as she continued to pet the cat in Lance’s arms. They shouldn’t. They  _ really  _ shouldn’t. They’ve seen how Shiro got around cats, and it was pretty bad. They should be doing everything in their power to keep him  _ away  _ from cats, not bring the cats to him. But Lance was right. This cat was awfully adorable and its fur was as soft as a pillow…

“We can’t let Shiro find out,” warned Allura.

“Of course!” agreed Lance.

With that, Allura stepped aside to usher Lance inside of the house, closing the door shut behind him. Only when Lance was a few steps inside did he set the cat down on their hardwood floor, watching it immediately leave to go explore its new home. With the cat busy, Lance turned to Allura who had a thoughtful look on her face, more than likely thinking about how they were going to take care of the cat. Lance, on the other hand…

“What should we name it?” questioned the brunet, snapping Allura out of her deep thoughts.

“Name it?  _ That’s  _ what you’re thinking about?”

“Well, yeah. If we’re going to keep it, we need to be able to call it,” reasoned Lance.

“This is true,” agreed Allura. “We can think of names while I go set up an appointment at the vet. We have to make sure that it’s healthy.” As Allura made her way towards their home phone, Lance began to spout out different names with Allura either completely rejecting it or considering it.

“Sherbet?”

“Lance, I’m not naming the cat after a food. It should be an actual name so it feels part of the family.”

“Shelly?”

Allura’s face expressed distaste. “No, not Shelly.”

“Lily?”

“Doesn’t look like a Lily.”

“Hannah?”

“Lance, are you even sure what its gender is?” questioned Allura after the third feminine name. There was a beat of silence before Lance went to find their new companion, no doubt checking if it was a male or a female. Allura shook her head at her partner’s actions before returning to her task at hand.

By the time that Lance had came back from hunting down their cat, who was hot on his heels, Allura had managed to set up an appointment for tomorrow in the early morning. She had accepted the fact that she would be the one taking the cat since both Shiro and Lance slept in late. Shiro would wake up at her sudden absence, but she already had an excuse to deliver and set him at ease, if need be.

“How about Max? Short for Maximus?” suggested Lance. “We could call him Maxie sometimes.”

“So you found out that it’s a boy,” observed Allura as she mulled over the name suggestion. She didn’t see anything wrong with Max, and he did look like a Max. Squatting down and making soft clicking noises, she watched as the tabby padded over to her, pushing his head into her awaiting hand. “How do you like the sound of Maximus, huh? We’d call you Max for short.” The low purr that she got in response was enough for her to take it as a yes. Turning her gaze to Lance, she nodded with a smile. “Max it is.”

“Max,” repeated Lance, trying out the name and storing it in the back of his mind. He grinned as he joined Allura and Max on the floor, reaching out a hand to gently pet along the tabby’s flank. “I’m glad he took a liking to Max.”

Their bonding moment was cut short as they heard a car pull up to their house. It was coming from the back, which meant that it was none other than Shiro. They were statue still as they heard the familiar sound of the car being parked, of Shiro getting out of the car. Their hearts were beating so loudly against their chest that they feared Shiro would be able to hear it as soon as he walked in.

A distressed meow broke them out of their trance.

“Why are we still sitting here?” hissed Allura as she stood back up, leaving Lance on the floor. “I’ll distract him. You have to hide Max.” Allura made a shooing motion with her hand and Lance nodded, scrambling to get to his feet and scoop up Max in his arms. He bolted out of their living room when he heard the familiar sound of their door being unlocked, rushing to the stairs and taking them two at a time.

When Shiro finally entered, Lance was nowhere in sight and Allura was greeting him with a bright smile.

“Welcome home,” addressed Allura, closing the distance between Shiro and her to press a chaste kiss upon his lips. “How was work today?”

“It was long. Tiring,” responded Shiro with a sigh as he entered deeper into their home. “A fight broke out today amongst a Junior and a Senior. Luckily, I was right there to stop it before it got too bad.” Allura gave him a sympathetic smile as he walked into their living room and collapsed onto their leather sofa, letting out a relieved breath. He toed off his shoes to free his socked toes, wiggling them, and reached for the knot of his tie to tug it loose. The sophisticated aura he had when he entered the home was gone the moment he sat down. Allura chuckled softly at the sight as she made her way back into the kitchen.

“Sounds like another exciting day as a high school teacher,” mused Allura. She got a low hum in response.

“How was your day? Is Lance home?”

Allura tensed up at his question before immediately relaxing. 

“My day was good. Nothing as exciting as breaking up a fight happened,” joked Allura as she flitted about the kitchen. “Lance came home not too long ago from his run. He’s upstairs taking a shower.” The last sentence was said louder than it needed to be so it carried to the second floor. When she heard some footsteps followed by the sound of water running, she couldn’t help the secretive grin on her face. Before Shiro could pester, she asked, “What did you want for dinner tonight? I was thinking… sloppy joes? It’s quick to cook and I’m sure you’re pretty hungry.”

“Sloppy joes sound good,” agreed Shiro, letting his eyes flutter closed as he rested. It was silent, save for the sounds of Allura working in the kitchen. It didn’t take long before the smell of spices and ground beef getting cooked together filled the house. Shiro let himself sniff at the air before letting out a pleased noise. “That smells delicious.”

“I’d have to agree,” said a voice from the stairs, floating down to reach their ears. The sight of Lance jogging down is what greeted them next. He reached the last step and made his way towards Shiro, who had opened his eyes at his voice. The brunet stopped in front of him, standing between his spread legs and leaning over to press a gentle kiss to his lips. It was supposed to be a short kiss, but Shiro wasn’t letting Lance go so soon. They kissed for a few seconds before Lance finally broke it, leaning up with a red face and stern eyes. Shiro could only chuckle in response.

“You weren’t down here when I came home, so I thought I deserved a longer ‘welcome home’ kiss,” explained Shiro, causing Lance to scoff and roll his eyes as he went to join Allura in the kitchen, ignoring the eyes that followed his movements.

“Sloppy joes?” questioned Lance as he slid behind Allura, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing up against her. He let his chin rest on her shoulder, turning to bury his nose where her neck and shoulder met. She let him despite the fact his nose was quite cold. Unlike Lance, both Shiro and Allura didn’t mind if one of them was cold and pressed against them.

“Mhm. I thought we’d have something quick tonight since I didn’t have time to cook anything that took longer,” explained Allura, getting a soft hum in response.

“It smells good. Looks good, too,” praised Lance, causing Allura to smile softly. “Max is in the guest room right now. He hopped onto the bed and then immediately passed out. Little guy was exhausted, I guess,” reported Lance in a tone that was much lower than before, close to whispering. They couldn’t have Shiro finding out about Max when they just got him. Thinking of Shiro, Lance chanced a glance in his direction to see that the man had gone back to resting quietly, eyes closed once more. He wasn’t paying one lick of attention to them, which was a relief. Lance turned his attention back to Allura.

“What are we going to do about him tonight? Should we just leave him in the guest room?”

“It’s the only option we have right now. We definitely can’t have him in our room,” reasoned Allura with a slight frown.

“He’s going to be so lonely,” whined Lance with a frown of his own.

“It’s the only way we’ll be able to keep him for good.” That seemed to be enough for Lance to silently agree and drop the subject.

“You’re going to have to sleep in the middle tonight,” ordered Allura. Without even seeing Lance’s expression, she was able to sense the curiosity radiating off of him. “I was able to make an appointment with our local vet, but it’s early in the morning. Earlier than when you and Shiro get up,” explained Allura. She felt more than heard a hum of understanding from the brunet.

“So you want me in the middle because you don’t want to wake up Shiro,” concluded Lance.

“Exactly,” confirmed Allura. “Put those koala tendencies of yours to good use.”

An offended gasp escaped Lance’s mouth as he lifted himself from Allura’s shoulder, towering over her now, if only slightly. “I do not have  _ koala tendencies _ ,” argued Lance, brows furrowed in vexation and face twisted into a glower. But it was more of a petulant pout in Allura’s eyes.

“Sure you don’t,” agreed Allura loosely. Like she was trying to appease an upset toddler. She let one of her hands stop working on dinner in order to pat Lance’s cheek gently, turning her neck to press a quick kiss to the other. Her actions only left Lance more huffy than before. She chuckled softly as she turned her attention back to her task. Without glancing back, she felt Lance remove himself completely from her before making his way over to where Shiro laid. Catching a glimpse of him curling up in Shiro’s side caused Allura to shake her head good naturedly.

It took a moment before an arm wrapped around Lance’s figure, dragging him closer until there was no visible space between him and Shiro. But Lance wasn’t complaining in the slightest as he let his head rest on one of Shiro’s shoulders, sighing softly.

“And what do I owe the pleasure of you cuddling with me?” rumbled Shiro. His voice was rough and raspy like he’s just woken up. Lance wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He was awfully quiet, after all.

“I can’t just come and cuddle with you without a reason?” He was met with silence. “Okay, I wanted comfort after Allura said I had  _ koala tendencies _ ,” confessed Lance in a mumble.

“Well, you’re proving her right,” chuckled Shiro as he lifted his head to bury it in Lance’s brown locks. “This is a perfect example of your  _ koala tendencies,  _ as Allura had put it,” teased Shiro. Sensing the pout on his boyfriend’s face without needing to see it, he quickly added, “But I love how clingy you are because it means you give the best cuddles.”

“Damn right I do,” huffed Lance as he threw one of his arms across Shiro’s stomach, curling his fingers into his side. “So how was your day today?”

“The usual. Praising the kids who want to actually pass, scolding the ones who seem like they don’t want to,” drawled Shiro. “A fight happened today between the upperclassmen. Don’t know what it was about, of course, but I was able to stop it before it got to be too bad. Had to push through a lot of the kids crowded around those who were fighting. Why do they always have to settle things with violence?” Teenagers were such hot-headed people.

“Sometimes you have emotions that you can’t put into words. Polite words, that is,” explained Lance with a shrug. He remembered getting into fights himself when he was younger, so he wasn’t going to be hypocritical and judge the kids that fought nowadays. Sometimes fighting was the only way people thought they could solve things instead of talking it out. “I’m glad you were able to stop it early. High school fights usually end up with someone getting severely injured. I should know,” confessed Lance.

Flashbacks of all his own fights went through Lance’s mind. There was never a teacher close by to stop them, and Lance would admit that it was because of the locations they’d pick to fight. It was always the most obscure places they could find in the school.

That caught Shiro’s attention.

“Lance, you used to get into fights?” questioned Shiro in a more alert tone. Everything about him seem to be more energetic now that his interest was piqued. He lifted his head from Lance’s hair just in time to see the brunet nod. With eyes wide in shock and disbelief, Shiro couldn’t help repeating, “Scrawny, little you got into fights?”

“Yes,” hissed Lance with cheeks as red as a fire hydrant, embarrassed and annoyed all at the same time. “I got into my fair share of fights. Why is that so hard to believe?” Lance glared up at Shiro, waiting for a response, but Shiro shifted his attention to the kitchen and called out to Allura, much to Lance’s chagrin.

“Allura, did you know that Lance got into fights when he was younger?”

_ “Our  _ Lance?”

“What other Lances do you know, Allura?” grumbled Lance underneath his breath. If Shiro happened to catch it, he didn’t comment on it, and Lance was grateful for that.

“Yeah. Apparently, he was a troublemaker as a kid,” teased Shiro. Out of the three of them, he seemed to be enjoying this new piece of information the most, if the twinkle of amusement in his eyes was anything to go by. Lance might have been irritated, but it didn’t last long after seeing Shiro’s mirth. He could never stay upset at Shiro when he looked so cheerful.

“Maybe he can tell us more about it over dinner since it’s finally done,” suggested Allura as she turned off the stove and moved the pot she was mixing to a cooler spot. She began to take out plates and place buns on them, leaving them for her boyfriends to grab when they entered the kitchen. It was silent as everyone fixed themselves a plate before drifting over to their dining table that was long and curved with four seats. It was always strange having one seat empty, but they’ve grown used to it.

“Thank you for dinner, sweetheart,” said Lance as he pressed a kiss to Allura’s left cheek, followed by Shiro kissing her right. She only smiled in response before they all dug into their dinner. Noises of different pitches all indicating the same pleasure as they bit into their sloppy joes left their mouths. It was silent for quite a while as they all worked their way through their first burger quickly, obviously all of them were a lot more hungry than they thought. The only noise was the soft sound of them chewing and swallowing, sighing blissfully in between every couple of bites.

“You really outdid yourself tonight, Allura,” praised Shiro as he polished off one out of the two sloppy joes he made himself. He heard a hum of agreement from Lance, who was still too busy eating to form words. “This is delicious.”

Allura waved off the praise despite the light flushing of her cheeks. “This isn’t anything extravagant. Just something quick. You don’t have to praise it like that, guys,” reassured Allura, polishing off her own sloppy joe. Unlike her boyfriends, she only got herself one sloppy joe. Coupled with the cup of water she poured, she knew that she’d be full a lot sooner than Lance and Shiro. “But I’m happy to see you two enjoy it so much.”

After their first sloppy joe, it was a lot easier to start up a conversation as they worked on their second. And starting up a conversation was exactly what Shiro did. Lance wish he had started the dinner conversation, or Allura did. The last thing he wanted to do was relive all of his younger days and fights that he got into somehow.

“So, about those  _ fights _ , Lance…,” trailed off Shiro, giving an expectant look to Lance over his half eaten second sloppy joe.

“What about them, Shiro?” questioned Lance. It was obvious in his tone that he was trying to avoid satisfying Shiro’s curiosity. He wouldn’t even meet the gaze he felt burning holes into his forehead as he continued to eat his sloppy joe.

“...Are you going to tell us about them?” urged Shiro a bit more eagerly than he would have liked, wincing internally.

“You know that saying, Shiro,” warned Lance, finally lifting his eyes to meet Shiro’s, “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back,” recounted Shiro, not letting Lance go so easily.

Allura was silent as she watched the exchange between the two of them. Her eyes flickered to rest on whoever was speaking, taking in their expressions and reactions to the words being said. She wasn’t going to say it out loud, but she was also curious about what kind of fights Lance got into during his younger days. From what she knew about Lance, he didn’t seem like the type of guy to start throwing punches unless it was over something seriously important. Like his friends or family. He wasn’t a hot-head like someone else she happened to know.

Lance let a sigh fall from his lips after he finished his sloppy joe, slumping in his chair. His eyes was zeroed in on his empty plate that had crumbs from his buns and the occasional dollop of the sloppy joe meat that spilled from his sandwich. A moment of silence passed with two pairs of eyes staring intensely at him, waiting on his response. Waiting for him to give in and spill memories from his past.

“First off, let me just say that I was  _ not  _ a troublemaker, okay?” stated Lance. “Just want to clear that up before I go any further.” He got nods in response. Taking a deep inhale followed by a deep exhale, Lance finally launched into his story. “I got into a lot of fights when I was younger because of my family or friends, but you probably that much figured out yourselves. It got to the point that the nurse knew me by name and the office was like a second home to me,” explained Lance, never taking his gaze off of his plate as he recounted his childhood. Memories flooded his mind and played like a movie behind his eyes. “The thing that exasperated the adults the most was that I was never the one starting the fights. They were always in self defense or protection of others, so every time they punished me, it made them feel bad. But they couldn’t let me go because that would set a bad example, so decisions had to be made. It didn’t really bother me much.”

“Were you parents upset?” questioned Allura after Lance went silent for a moment. He probably thought that was going to be it, but there was still things that Allura was curious about.

“At first, they were,” confessed Lance, flickering his gaze to rest on Allura. “But that’s because they didn’t know  _ why  _ I was getting into fights. Just that I was and the school was constantly blowing up our home phone while I was coming home with bruises and band-aids.”

“How come you didn’t tell them?” asked Shiro.

“It’s a bit difficult for kids to tell their parents they’re getting bullied. That’s what their siblings are for. To protect them when the parents aren’t around,” reasoned Lance. “That’s what I did. I protected them as best as I could until they were ready to tell our parents. I got punished at home, too, but it was worth it.”

Allura and Shiro were silent as they mulled over the new information. They knew what type of person Lance was. He would do anything if it meant protecting someone who was dear to him. But it still amazed them when they heard stories like this from the man himself. And it only made them appreciate the fact Lance is  _ theirs _ that much more. They were the luckiest duo in the world, and no one could tell them otherwise.

Lance cleared his throat, interrupting the silence that fell on them. “Well, that’s the end of story time.” He pushed his seat back and got to his feet, taking his empty plate in his hand before making his way to Shiro’s and Allura’s. “I’ll do the dishes since you cooked, Allura. And I’m sure Shiro just wants to take a shower and rest,” explained Lance, shooting them both a smile. He was avoiding talking about the subject more, and they knew that. But neither of them stopped him as he took all of their plates to the kitchen sink and began to wash them, putting them in the drying rack afterwards.

“I’ll be heading upstairs, then,” announced Shiro over the loud noise of running water. With his exit to the stairs, that left only Allura at the table. He felt a pang of guilt for leaving her there, but waved it off, knowing that Allura would be fine. In fact, she’d call him silly for worrying over such a simple thing. Heading up the stairs, the noise of dishes clattering together and his partners’ voices faded away until they barely reached his ears anymore. He entered their room and made a beeline to the bathroom, eager to wash away the exhaustion from today’s work.

That’s when the sneezing began.

The moment he stepped into their shared bathroom he sneezed without warning. It sent him into a daze for a few seconds before getting his bearings together. He would have been fine if that was the only one. But it wasn’t. Before he realized it, he was inhaling deeply before sneezing again, and again… and again. Rubbing his nose, he backed out of his bathroom with one last sneeze, standing a few feet away from the doorway.

“What the hell?” He only sneezed this much when he was around what he was allergic to, which was cats. But from what he can see, there wasn’t any cats nearby. And he’s stressed his allergy enough that Allura and Lance wouldn’t  _ dare  _ bring one inside of the house. Frowning, Shiro debated going back into the death trap of a bathroom. He could always take a shower in the morning, but he never liked lying in bed after work without cleansing himself first. Who knows what he could have contracted from the high school and all the kids there. He didn’t want to spread that to his lovers.

In the end, hygiene won against overall health.

With a deep sigh, Shiro dragged his feet back inside the bathroom, switching on the vent, hoping that it would somewhat cleanse the air but doubting it. This time he wasn’t surprised when he immediately sneezed. He didn’t let his incessant sneezing get in the way of stripping his clothes and turning on his shower. 

_ Maybe it’ll be better once I’m in the shower. The water might help,  _ thought Shiro as he finally stepped inside the tub.

If anything, it seemed to get  _ worse _ .

Throughout his entire shower, Shiro sneezed. He sneezed until his eyes began to water and blur his vision to the point that he either  _ actually  _ saw a cat hair or he mistook it for something else. He didn’t stay in the shower long enough to figure it out, turning off the water after he deemed himself clean enough. It was shorter than his normal time and that was a bit bothering, but he wouldn’t have been able to endure another second in the tub with the way his allergies were acting up. Grabbing his towel to wrap around his waist and his lotion, Shiro bolted out of the bathroom and into their bedroom, inhaling the fresh, non-allergy-filled air. He couldn’t stop the small smile from gracing his face as he got dressed, appreciating not sneezing every thirty seconds.

“Shiro, darling, are you alright?” questioned a muffled voice behind the bedroom door. It soon opened to reveal a concerned Allura accompanied by an equally concerned Lance.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just my allergies acting up. Nothing new,” reassured Shiro as he searched for a shirt in one of their many drawers. “It’s like a bunch of cats decided to claim our bathroom as their new home.” Bringing up the subject made Shiro wiggle his nose as it began to itch again. “I was sneezing up a storm. We’re going to have to clean that tomorrow morning.”

“Sorry, I was playing with some of the neighborhood cats. You were probably sneezing from when I got in the shower,” explained Lance with an apologetic smile. “I’ll be sure to clean it in the morning so you can take a shower in peace.” He received a hum in appreciation as Shiro tugged on a shirt and climbed into their bed, scooting all the way to one of the ends. Lance was quick to clamber in after him, taking up the middle space. Allura joined them soon after changing into her own pajamas and switching their light off. There was some rustling as they all shifted into a comfortable position, stilling when they found it. A comfortable silence enveloped them as breaths began to even out.

Then a loud sneeze broke their sleep spell.

“Sorry, sorry,” apologized Shiro as he bit back another one, squeezing the bridge of his nose. He’d sacrifice a popped blood vessel in order to be quiet.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to apologize for something you can’t control,” cooed Allura in a soft tone. “And you don’t have to hold your sneezes either. That’s not good for you, Shiro. We’re not going to be upset by you sneezing, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I think that was the last one.”

“...Alright. Goodnight, Shiro.”

“Goodnight, Allura.”

_ “Goodnight, Lance.” _

Shiro and Allura laughed at the playfully irritated tone that interrupted their goodnights. They both reached to press a chaste kiss somewhere upon Lance’s face, mumbling a  _ “goodnight, love”  _ against his skin. They all went to sleep entangled with one another and small smiles upon all of their faces.   
  


The rest of the week seemed to follow Shiro’s impromptu allergic reaction in their bathroom. His sneezes weren’t just confined to one area anymore. He sneezed in their bathroom, in their guest bedroom, and even in their kitchen. It’s gotten to the point that he sneezes upon stepping foot inside of his house. The last time he reacted like this led to him breaking out into hives.

He hasn’t broken out into hives since he was six.

Already rubbing at his eyes as he reached their front door, Shiro squared himself for the onslaught of sneezes that were sure to overwhelm him the moment he stepped inside. Taking in one last breath of fresh air, he exhaled deeply as he unlocked his door and pushed it open. His mouth was parted in a greeting, but the words died on his tongue as he took in the sight before him.

It was Lance sitting cross-legged on their hardwood floor with a cat’s toy in his hand, the one that you hold and dangle above them to catch, as he cooed at the orange and white cat balancing on its back legs and swinging at the dangling toy with its front. Lance laughed softly as it almost had it, but lost its balanced and fell back to all fours. He didn’t seem to be aware of Shiro’s presence until the sound of the door closing captured his attention.

“Hey, Allura,” greeted Lance without looking up from the cat, oblivious to who was really home. “Max and I have been lazing around all day. He’s already ate, so you don’t have to worry about that. Wanna play with him for a bit? We still have time before Shiro gets—” A loud sneeze interrupted Lance’s sentence, echoing throughout their arm and making him freeze in his movements, allowing Max to finally capture the toy. Things seemed to move in slow motion as Lance’s hand returned to his side and his gaze drifted from Max to Shiro, who was still standing by the door. A beat or two of silence passed them, save for the soft sounds of Max enjoying himself with his toy.

_ “Shit.” _

_ “Lance,”  _ growled Shiro. He had more to say, but another sneeze wracked his body, interrupting his train of thoughts and upcoming rant. Shaking his head and refocusing on his boyfriend, he glared sternly at Lance as he continued. “Why is there a  _ cat  _ in the house?”

Lance’s gaze tore away from Shiro’s intense one, flickering around the room before settling on his legs pretzeled underneath him. “Well, I, uh, might’ve convinced Allura to let us keep him after I found him in our bushes out front and he wouldn’t leave me alone,” explain Lance in a rush, panicked tone, chancing a glance at Shiro from underneath his lashes before quickly returning his eyes to his legs, nervously rubbing at them.

Shiro exhaled deeply, letting his eyes slide close. “You decided to keep a cat… even though I’m allergic,” deadpanned Shiro as he reached for the bridge of his nose, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger as a way to keep calm.

“I-It wasn’t just  _ me,” _ protested Lance as his head snapped up in Shiro’s direction, quick to defend himself.  _ “Allura _ was the one who said that we have to hide him from you! So she’s just as guilty as I am.”

It was at that moment that they heard the door being opened once more. With a grin upon her face and shopping bags weighing down her arms, Allura came into their shared home a lot more cheery than her boyfriends currently felt, oblivious to the tense atmosphere. She hummed an upbeat tune as she closed the door and locked it before making her way over to Shiro, stopping to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Hey, love. How was your day today?” questioned Allura.

“Allura,” croaked out Lance, calling for her attention. His tongue darted out to wet his lips before he confessed, “He knows, Allura.”

Silently and slowly, the woman shifted her attention from Lance back to Shiro, who met her gaze with a wry smile. The annoyance was obvious in the air that surrounded him, and it made both of his partners feel more guilty than they usually would. Shiro was a pretty tough person to ruffle. He had enough patience for the three of them and then some. So if someone  _ did  _ manage to tick him off, they must have done something  _ seriously irritating _ .

“We can explain,” blurted out Allura after staring at Shiro with wide eyes and parted lips in shock from being caught.

Shiro’s smile only seemed to grow in size and his annoyance doubled. His voice was terse as he spoke. “Please do.”

Allura and Lance exchanged helpless looks, staring at one another silently before turning back to Shiro. Neither spoke for what seem to be forever, but was probably only a few seconds in reality. Shiro didn’t rush either of them. Why would he? They had all the time in the world to work this out, after all.

“It was hard to resist leaving him outside! I mean,  _ look at him, Shiro!”  _ Lance scooped up Max in his hands, ignoring the surprised meow he got in response. He lifted him up in the air for Shiro to see, pouting behind him. “How can you ignore such a cute, fluffy face? I would have been heartbroken if I left him!”

“It’s not hard to ignore something  _ you’re allergic to.”  _ Lance winced at the comment, slowly setting Max back down in his lap. He let his fingers solemnly run through Max’s soft coat as he looked towards Allura. It was obvious that he had tried his best and was giving the floor to Allura now. She was his last hope in possibly keeping Max for their own.

Too bad that she chose now of all times to be reasonable.

“Shiro, we’re sorry,” apologized Allura. “It was selfish of us to keep a cat and hide it, despite knowing that you’re allergic.” She ignored Lance’s offended gasp and continued her apology. “We won’t beg you to let us keep him. In fact, we’ll give him up right away,” suggested Allura. She heard Lance’s beginnings of a protest and silenced him with a stern look. She didn’t need him digging their grave any further than they already had.

“I’m not really upset about the cat himself. I’m just upset that you guys lied to me so that you could keep him,” confessed Shiro, taking in the guilty expressions of his lovers. He couldn’t stop himself from feeling the twinge of pity that he did as he stared at them. Exhaling deeply, he ran a hand through his hair, mussing it from its neatly combed back style. “We’ll give him away to someone that’s trustworthy, okay? So you don’t have to worry about his safety and if he’s being taken care of.” That seemed to cheer the two up slightly, but then they were regarding him with doubtful looks as he said, “I think I have someone in mind actually.”

“You’re giving  _ me  _ your cat?”

“You’re the first person that popped into my mind.”

“Shiro,” began Lance as he cradled Max protectively to his chest, eyeing the man in the doorway with a skeptical frown, “I’m not so sure about this.” His gaze flickered to land on Shiro, who was rolling his eyes at the brunet’s suspicion.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Lance. I’d trust Keith with my own life. I’m sure he could take care of Max,” reassured Shiro. In his mind, no one was more trustworthy than Keith, despite his partners’ thoughts. He’s known Keith for as long as he can remember. The younger man was practically his brother. He’s sure that he can vaguely recall making a blood pact when they were younger, making them blood brothers. “Right, Keith? A cat is not that hard to take care of.” He got a slightly wary hum in response.

Sensing that Shiro had his mind set, Lance shifted Max in his hold and held him out to Keith, who took him hesitantly. As soon as the cat was in Keith’s hands, he began to meow in a distressed manner, startling both parties. Lance was quick to practically snatch him back, ceasing the meowing. Instead, purring filled the air around them, making clear who Max wanted to be with. No one said anything, but knowing glances were all shot in Shiro’s direction, who gritted his teeth.

“Lance, hand Max back over to Keith. It’s normal for him to be distressed at first, but I’m certain he’ll grow used to his new home.” Lance pursed his lips, hesitating in handing Max back over. Distressed meowing was heard again, but Lance didn’t reach this time, just avoided looking in Max’s direction. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, antsy to go back to their own home.

Allura could sense Lance’s heartache and hurried to give Keith the bag that they had packed. “Here’s all of Max’s things. Toys, food, etcetera. There’s also a list in there of what he does and doesn’t like, when to feed him, when to bathe him, and any appointments that might’ve been coming up….” explained Allura in a professional tone, mentally ticking off things as she said them. “Oh! There’s also contact information for his vet and our own contact information, in case you have any questions. Uh… I think that’s it.”

“Alright, time for us to go. Thanks again, Keith,” thanked Shiro as he brought a hand to Keith’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. His gaze flickered to the cat in his arms, squirming to be let go. “Bye, Max.” Shiro let his hand slip from Keith’s shoulder and turned on his heel, making his way down the steps that led to Keith’s front door and back towards their car. He left Allura and Lance alone to say their own farewells to Max.

“We’ll miss you, Maximus.” Lance reached out to give the tabby a scratch in between his ears. “Be good for Keith, okay?” cooed Lance. He got a meow in response as he let his hand fall back to his side. It took another moment of sorrowful staring before he finally turned his back and slowly made his way to join Shiro in the car. The only one who still stood at Keith’s doorstep was Allura.

“It was a pleasure to have you, Maxie,” cooed Allura as she also let her hand run through his fur. “I hope that Keith realizes how lucky he is to be taking care of you. I’m sure that he’ll be good to you,” reassured Allura. Even though it didn’t come off as a warning of sorts, Keith still got the underlying message. “Remember to call us if you need to.” Keith nodded. “Love you, Max.” Allura leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Max’s nose before taking her leave as well.

Keith continued to stand in his doorway as Allura climbed into the passenger’s seat of their car. He shifted Max to one arm and used his free one to wave them off as Shiro pulled off after a few minutes of Allura getting settled. He didn’t turn to enter his own home until they were out of sight. Once inside, he set Max down, watching him cautiously check out his new surroundings as he closed and locked his door. Leaving him to his own devices, Keith decided to see what was packed for Max.

Making his way to his kitchen counter, Keith grunted softly as he swung the bag to land on top of the marbled surface. He took a moment to rest his arm before unzipping and searching through the bag. Going through it, he took note of some of the things that Allura had informed him about. There was indeed food, toys, and hygiene items. He also came across a folded piece of lined paper that, upon opening it up, he learned had all the important contact information, Max’s likes and dislikes, and when to make appointments for him. It was a bit overwhelming to take everything in, but Keith was grateful at how meticulous Allura was. At least he wouldn’t be running like a chicken with its head cut off when it came to taking care of Max’s basic necessities.

A soft, constant meowing called for Keith’s attention. He looked up from the paper in his hands and faced his living room, eyes scanning for the score of the noise. It wasn’t until his eyes swept over to the door that he caught sight of his new animal companion. Max was sitting in front of the door, meowing at it and occasionally scratching. His tail twitched in what Keith assumed was uncomfortableness. Frowning softly, he placed the paper down next to the bag and made his way towards Max. Once he reached him, he squatted down to a less threatening height, holding out a hand to the tabby. Max stopped meowing and stared warily at him.

“Hey there, little guy,” greeted Keith in the softest, calmest tone he could manage as to not scare Max off. “I don’t know how to word this better, but this is your new home now. Lance and Allura couldn’t keep you because Shiro’s allergic. Not because they don’t love you, or are abandoning you,” reassured Keith, reaching out his hand a little further. “Trust me. They definitely didn’t want to give you up.”

Silence passed between them before Max went back to meowing at the door, much to Keith’s dismay. He sighed softly as he let his hand fall to the ground. Standing back up, he couldn’t help but think that Max’s adjustment was going to be a difficult and long one.

Turns out that Keith thought right.

It’s been approximately two weeks since he’s had Max and things haven’t gotten better. In fact, they’ve gotten worse. In the last couple days, Max had taken to trying to escape when Keith left the house. The first time he did it, he actually succeeded and Keith had a heart attack. He didn’t think twice about dashing after the cat, closing the distance between them and scooping him up before he turned a corner, disappearing for good. It was single-handedly one of the most terrifying moments Keith’s ever experienced. He couldn’t imagine having to tell Allura and Lance that he happened to lose Max, so he’d rather avoid that situation as much as possible,  _ thank you very much. _

Now, it’s become routine to block Max from the door as he left the house for something, walking away from the ceaseless meowing as it faded into the distance.

Today had proved to be different, though. As Keith opened the door, he expected to see Max dashing for the chance to escape, but he saw no sign of such a thing. Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Keith glanced around his home, searching for the familiar sight of orange and white. When he didn’t see anything, he shrugged and continued to close the door, completely oblivious to the fact that Max had managed to slip right past him as silent as a mouse. He was about to lock up when he froze in finding the right key for his door, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. While he should be happy that Max stopped bolting for the door, he couldn’t help being anxious still. Worry winning out, Keith quickly opened his door again, rushing inside his home.

“Max? Max, where are you?” called out Keith, voice bouncing off the walls. He waited with bated breath for a response of any kind—a jingle of a toy, a meow,  _ something.  _ When he didn’t get anything, he began to search frantically, continuously calling for the tabby as he looked in every nook and cranny. His heart slammed against his chest and his blood roared in his ears, blocking out everything else. One of his worst nightmares were occurring, and, while he  _ really  _ didn’t want to, he knew who he needed to call.

Fishing his phone out of his back pocket, Keith unlocked it and dialed Shiro’s number with shaky fingers, hesitantly placing his phone to his ear as it began to ring. He waited quietly for Shiro to pick up, letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as he heard the man’s voice after the third ring.

_ “Hey, Keith. What’s up?”  _ greeted Shiro.

“Shiro, I need to speak to Allura and Lance. It’s super important and about Max.”

_ “Okay.”  _ There was some crackling and certain phrases or words that Keith caught as he waited for the phone to be passed.

_ “Keith? What’s the matter?”  _ questioned Allura, worry evident in her voice. It only worsened Keith anxiety and dumped the feeling of guilt on top of it.

Clearing his throat and wetting his lips, he parted his lips before closing them again. A beat of silence passed as he gathered up the courage to continue, to go through with this. Inhaling deeply, Keith began to talk on his exhale. “Recently, Max has been trying to escape the house when I leave to do something. At first, he managed to get out, but I was able to catch him. I usually block him from the door, so he never succeeds,” explained Keith, pausing to see if Allura had anything to say and to calm his heart for his next words. This was it. “Well, today, I was leaving out to head to the store, and was expecting Max to dash for the door like always. But this time, he didn’t.”

_ “That’s good, right? Maybe he’s learned that it’s useless to try,” _ offered Allura.

“That’s what I thought, too,” agreed Keith. “But I couldn’t help feeling that something wasn’t right, so I went back inside to look for him. After checking every place I can think of, I came up with nothing. So basically, what I’m trying to say is…. I lost Maximus.”

Keith was met with a tense silence that had him gulping audibly. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited for some kind of response. “A-Allura? Are you still there?”

_ “I’m here, Keith. It’s going to be alright. I’m sure that we’ll be able to find him if we search. He couldn’t have gotten too far,”  _ reassured Allura in a calm tone that relaxed Keith. She didn’t seem unfathomably angry, and that’s what Keith was most worried about. It took some of the weight off of his chest.  _ “And Keith… I want you to know that I’m not upset at you. I’m glad you called immediately instead of trying to put it off. Thank you.” _

“You’re welcome, Allura,” mumbled Keith, dumbfounded about being thanked of all things.

_ “Alright, so maybe we can do some searching on our own before putting up posters and everything. Or it might be best to search while putting up posters. That way, if we run into people, we can ask them if they’ve seen Max,”  _ rambled Allura, obviously thinking out loud and not talking directly to Keith, who just listened and nodded even though she couldn’t see it.  _ “I need to tell Shiro and Lance, so that we’re all on the same page.” _

_ “Is that meowing at the door?”  _ questioned Lance, his voice sounding distant.  _ “Why would there be a cat on our doorstep?” _

_ “You should just leave it, Lance,”  _ suggested Shiro, probably not wanting a repeat of what happened with Max. Allura had other ideas, though.

_ “Open the door!”  _ exclaimed Allura. There was the distant sound of Shiro sputtering a protest, but Keith couldn’t make out the words over the noise of the door being unlocked and open. And definitely not over the shout of joy that followed.

_ “Max! You came back!”  _ cheered Lance, surprising Keith on the other end. He was able to make out Shiro’s surprised  _ “What?”  _ as he heard Lance’s cooing.

_ “Well, I guess we won’t need to search for him after all,”  _ chirped Allura. Keith could hear the smile in her voice.  _ “It looks like he wasn’t trying to escape. Just wanted to find his way back home. _

Keith expected to feel a twang of pain at the thought of Max not liking living with him, but it never came. And maybe that was because Keith knew he truly didn’t belong there either. “I’ll come over to drop off his bag,” informed Keith after breaking out of his thoughts. As he said this, he began to clean up his home, gathering Max’s things and placing them as neatly as he could within the bag.

_ “Okay. See you in a bit!” _

The call ended before Keith could even say his own farewell. He removed his phone from his ear and placed it next to the bag as he continued to pack, mentally checking off that he had everything. Once he was certain, he zipped the bag up and slung it over one of his shoulders, making his way out of the door with his phone, keys, and wallet. After locking up, he made his way over to his car, climbing in after sliding the bag inside of the passenger seat.

“I can’t believe this,” mumbled Keith as he got settled, buckling his seat belt and turning his car on. “This entire time Max wasn’t trying to run away and become wild. He was just trying to get back to where he belonged. To his family.” The radio blasting a song unfamiliar to Keith interrupted his train of thoughts. He bobbed along to the catchy, country tune as he pulled off into the road. It didn’t take him long before he was humming to the melody. It was one that you just couldn’t help but sway to.

So caught up in the song, Keith barely realized that he had reached his destination. It wasn’t until the song was slowing down, coming to an end, that Keith looked at his surroundings to see where he as at. As the song faded out after its last words, Keith parked in front of Shiro’s home, turning the car off once he was in a comfortable place. He retrieved his phone from the cup holder next to him and unlocked it to type out a quick message to Shiro, saying that he was out front. It wasn’t even a minute later after he sent it that the front door was opening to reveal Shiro standing in the doorway, waiting on him. Seeing him there kicked Keith into gear as he unbuckled his seat belt and finally got out of his car.

After getting the bag, Keith locked his car and made his way to Shiro, who greeted him with a smile and the occasional sneeze. Keith had planned to just drop the bag off and be on his way, but Shiro was insisting that he came in for a bit before leaving. Frowning slightly, Keith adhered to Shiro’s request, slipping past him to enter his home. He stopped a few steps in as he was greeted with the sight of Lance and Allura on the floor, pushing a ball of yarn around and watching Max chase it eagerly, always reaching out for it and missing by a hair. The two had bright smiles plastered to their faces and laughter spilled from their lips, completely obliviously to Keith’s entrance. He couldn’t help but smile at how cheerful the two seemed.

“They seem awfully attached to one another,” observed Keith as he felt more than saw Shiro join him in watching the two play with Max. “It’s crazy to think that you tried to give Max up.”

“If you were allergic to a certain animal, you’d try to give it up, too,” defended Shiro quickly before sighing softly. “But it seems to be too late now.”

“On the bright side, at least there’s different allergy medicines to prevent you from having a  _ serious  _ allergic reaction,” suggested Keith. “And you should be fine as long as you don’t, like, bury your face into Max’s fur,” reassured the younger man lamely with a shrug. He was trying his best to make this situation a little more positive for Shiro, who chuckled softly at his efforts.

“Thanks, Keith. I’ll be sure to remember that,” stated Shiro. Remembering the real reason that Keith was at their house, Shiro reached for the bag that was still on Keith’s shoulder. “Here, let me take this off of you.” Keith grunted out a thanks as Shiro took the bag and placed it on his own shoulder, adjusting it to a comfortable hold. “Well, I better let you go. I’m sure you have things to do today.”

“Yeah, I do. Just run some errands,” informed Keith. “I’ll see you later.”

“Definitely, come by and visit more often. Even though you guys were together for only a few weeks, I’m sure Max would love to see you now that he’s back ‘home’.” Shiro glanced back to the group still on the floor before turning his attention back to Keith.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” chuckled Keith. He turned on his heel and began to make his way back towards the door. As he gripped the door handle, he looked over his shoulder to Allura and Lance. “See you later, guys. I’m glad that you were able to keep Max in the end.”

“Bye, Keith!”

“Thank you for taking care of him for a little while.”

Keith nodded in response at the farewells before finally disappearing from the house. As he closed the door behind him, he heard a series of loud sneezes followed by a groan. Shaking his head good naturedly, he could only wish Shiro the best of luck. Living with his two lovers just got a whole lot harder now that they’ve added a cat into the mix. But Keith had faith that they’d all pull through and work things out for the better.

_ “Achoo!” _

Somehow.


End file.
